HMS Hermes (95)

HMS Hermes (95) was a pioneering aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy and the world's first vessel designed from the keel up for that purpose. Her construction was delayed by the aftermath of the First World War and evolving naval aviation doctrine, leading to a lengthy build time. Upon completion, she served across the British Empire, including the China Station and the Home Fleet, before seeing extensive action in the Second World War. Her career ended when she was sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft off Ceylon in April 1942, becoming the first Allied aircraft carrier lost in the Indian Ocean.

Design and construction

The design for HMS Hermes was finalized in 1917, drawing heavily on experience gained from the converted carrier HMS Argus (I49). Key features included a full-length flight deck, an island superstructure on the starboard side—a configuration pioneered on HMS Furious (47) and later standardized—and a dual-purpose armament. Her construction by Armstrong Whitworth at High Walker on the River Tyne began in January 1918, but work slowed dramatically after the Armistice of 11 November 1918. The ship was launched in September 1919, but fitting-out was protracted as the Admiralty debated the future of naval aviation, influenced by theorists like the Royal Air Force's Sir Hugh Trenchard. She was finally commissioned at Devonport Dockyard in February 1924, her design already showing limitations compared to newer contemporaries like HMS Eagle (1918).

Service history

After commissioning, Hermes joined the Atlantic Fleet before being assigned to the China Station in 1925, where she operated for several years. In 1930, she participated in the evacuation of British nationals from Spanish Morocco during the Rif War. Following a refit at HMNB Portsmouth, she served with the Home Fleet in the mid-1930s. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she was initially deployed for anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel and Western Approaches. In 1940, she was transferred to the South Atlantic Station and played a role in hunting the German auxiliary cruiser ''Thor''. She later operated off Dakar during the Battle of Dakar against the Vichy French forces and was subsequently based at Freetown in Sierra Leone.

Loss

In early 1942, with the entry of Japan into the war, Hermes was transferred to the Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee in Ceylon. On 9 April 1942, during the Indian Ocean raid, she was at sea without her aircraft when she was located by a scout plane from the Japanese carrier ''Ryūjō''. She was subsequently attacked by a large force of Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers from the ''Hiryū'', ''Sōryū'', and ''Akagi''. Hit by over forty bombs, Hermes sank rapidly southeast of Batticaloa with the loss of 307 men, including her captain, Richard F. J. Onslow. The escorting destroyer HMS ''Vampire'' and the corvette HMS ''Hollyhock'' were also sunk in the same action.

Legacy

The loss of HMS Hermes highlighted the vulnerability of aircraft carriers operating without air cover and underscored Japanese naval air supremacy in the early stages of the Pacific War. Her design legacy, particularly the starboard-side island, became a standard feature on virtually all subsequent aircraft carriers worldwide. A Royal Navy commemorative plaque was later placed near the wreck site, and the ship is remembered in memorials including those at the Naval War Memorial, Plymouth. The name was later carried by the ''Centaur''-class carrier HMS Hermes (R12), which served from 1959 until the Falklands War and was eventually sold to India as INS Viraat.

Notes

Category:Aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy Category:Ships sunk in World War II Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean